Wild is the best memoir I've read since Gail Caldwell's Let's Take the Long Way Home. I felt like I was on the trail with Cheryl; I could see the wilderness in front of me, I could feel the monstrous backpack on my back. This isn't just a book for fans of memoirs. This is a book for people who are fans of pitch-perfect writing that tells a story with unrestrained exuberance. I loved this book.
— Michele
We are not our bodies, but we are inextricable from them. When our bodies strain, we strain; when our bodies are damaged, we feel the damage. We are not our hearts, but we need our hearts to heal when they have holes in them. Breaking under the weight of years of trauma, Cheryl Strayed set out on an 1,100-mile hike, solo through the Pacific Crest Trail, to find out what she could survive. Her journey is one of constant physical pain, fear, hunger, freezing and burning temperatures, thirst, blood, loneliness, and healing. If our bodies can make it over the mountain, we can make it over the mountain, and on our climb, we'll see how beautiful pits and valleys can be from a distance.
— Sarah
“The inspiring story of Strayed's solo journey on the Pacific Crest Trail snags you from the beginning and keeps you engaged the whole way through. It was a bold move considering that she had no backpacking experience prior to her trip, but in the years following her mother's death and the subsequent dissolution of her family, Strayed was no stranger to bold moves. The challenges, both external and internal, that she endures while on the trail are balanced with stories about her life leading up to her brave decision to hike alone for months in the rugged Western wilderness. This is a story of survival in every sense of the word, and one that will stick with you long after you finish reading.”
— Deborah Castorina, Waucoma Bookstore, Hood River, OR
A Best Book of the Year: NPR, "The Boston Globe," "Entertainment Weekly, " "Vogue, "St. Louis Dispatch ""
At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State--and she would do it alone. Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, "Wild" powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.